Google cough up refunds for in-app idiocy

Why? They're promising to return at least $19 million (£11.6 million) to parents whose kids had racked up in-app purchases.

The kids were able to spree because of the parent's credit card via Android Play store.

But now, as a result, a minimum $19m will be repaid to those who didn't actually authorise the payments.

However the FTC found that when Google started its in-app purchasing in 2011, there wasn't a proper security safeguard to stop them from making immense purchases.

FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez says: "As more Americans embrace mobile technology, it's vital to remind companies that time-tested consumer protections still apply, including that consumers should not be charged for purchases they did not authorize."

This follows Apple doing a similar pay-out of $32.5m for the same sort of app sprees.

Once the parents get their refund, they should get it in a bag of coins and whack their children over the head with it, then themselves, to teach everyone a lesson.

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3 comments

Mark B.

Unlike a more thorough article on Naked Sophos, you neglected to mention Google's obvious chicanery in making it more than easy for the kiddies to make purchases. For example, Google didn't make it clear that entering your password would give your kids a 30-minute window to make additional purchases without needing the password again.

It would be nice to see people have to pay for the utter fuckwittery of giving there kids their credit cards. That's what happens when you 'keep the kids quiet' by giving them your phone. Like everything nowadays it's everybody else's fault. Fucktards.

Maybe these parents should just stop giving expensive I - devices to kids. How about that? They're not really aimed at them, plus most of the kiddy apps have in-app purchases designed just to fleece children. Both developers and parents are to blame here, not apple or google.